This invention relates generally to coating accessories and, more specifically, to a combination wet coating storage container, dry coating storage container, and package assembly for coating applicators and coating material. For convenience of description, reference will hereafter be made to "paint" as representative generally of coating material.
Conventional roller painting equipment used by consumers or professionals almost invariably consists essentially only of a roller and a paint tray. A batch of paint from a one gallon or other convenient sized container of paint is poured into a paint tray which usually has a storage capacity considerably less than the volume of the paint container, and the roller is dipped into the tray as the work progresses until the batch is exhausted, at which time another batch is poured into the paint tray. It is always hoped that the paint in the tray will be exhausted at the same time as the person applying the paint quits for the day or leaves the job for an extended period of time so that a skin will not form on the paint left in the tray due to solvent evaporation, but quite often this does not happen. As a consequence the user has the option of pouring the unused paint back into the original container, which is invariably a messy process with the potential for spillage on a floor or carpeted surface, or leaving the unused paint in the tray until the user can return to finish the job. When the paint is left for even as short a time as a few hours the solvent evaporates and an undesirable skin forms on the surface of the paint. This skin must then be removed before painting is resumed. Removing the skin is an even messier task than pouring out the unused paint with all the above described disadvantages. In addition, due to solvent evaporation, the now skin free paint will often be thicker than when it was poured from the original container and, as a consequence, the surface cover ability and quality may consequently be lowered.
Attempts have been made to address the above disadvantages but none to our knowledge has been sufficiently successful to go into widespread commercial use. For example, a number of proposals have been made involving a mating cover for a paint tray but many, and possibly a majority, of said proposed structures attempt to make provision to also contain the roller in the closed space formed by the trayed and associated cover. Such a construction does however have inherent disadvantages in that all, or nearly all, paint trays include an inclined ramp near the rear thereof for the purpose of "rolling out" or distributing a fresh roller load of paint after dipping into the paint pool so that the paint is evenly distributed on the roller prior to application to a receiving surface. The surface of the inclined ramp becomes coated with wet and sticky paint during use and hence if the brush handle is laid thereon preparatory to closing the cover on the tray, the handle becomes sticky and unusable thereby requiring cleaning prior to recommencing use. To overcome this drawback additional structure has been proposed to hold the handle away from the wet ramp. While such an arrangement may be functional, the resultant structure is impractical in that, by and large, the lid and/or tray, and particularly the lid, may not then be manufactured by the conventional thermoform process due to the structural complexity of the structure. As is well-known, in the current market environment which demands low cost products using minimal raw material and manufacture by conventional mass manufacturing techniques to produce a low cost product in today's highly competitive marketplace, such complicated structure cannot meet current market requirements.
In addition to the foregoing requirements a paint tray assembly consisting of a paint tray and lid must occupy a minimal cubic space for manufacturing, shipping and displaying purposes. Closed tray assemblies have been proposed which are not constructed so as to contain a roller but almost invariably they are bulky and consume far too much space in the manufacturing, shipping and/or displaying process to be economically feasible. The fact that an inclined ramp is a necessity further complicates the provision of a satisfactory tray assembly which does not include applicator retention capacity. In fact, the additional bulk resulting from such constructions clearly prevents successful commercial utilization due to the required low cost nature of the product, a disadvantage which is compounded when a lid is hinged to a tray. In effect, the trays should be nestable, the lids should be nestable, at least with respect to one another, and a plurality of lids should add only a minute fraction of bulk to an equal number of trays so that manufacturing, shipping and displaying steps may be carried out at the lowest possible cost and least inconvenience.
It is also a requirement of a commercially practical tray assembly that the assembly function as a package so as to provide the option of combining the tray assembly, either without redesign, or at least without substantial redesign, with an appropriate paint applicator such as a pad, so that a paint kit is formed.
In addition to functioning as a paint kit the tray assembly, whether offered to the ultimate consumer as a tray assembly or as a paint kit, should also function as a package. In this connection the lid should have a wide, flat area both on its upper and lower surfaces to accommodate labels and other externally applied point of purchase marketing aids which assist in the selling potential of the tray assembly. If the lid is made from a clear plastic material a label on the underside of the lid will present the product for sale and, by turning over the lid, will provide use instructions.